“All I’ll say is Kobe expressed interest in the spring and attended our spring camp … we offered him a spot and he accepted after taking time to consider his options,” Potvin told Hockey News North.

Perry, who was coach-of-the-year in the Great North as a rookie bench boss last season, gave his thoughts on Barrette’s decision to leave Timmins for Kapuskasing.

“We are disappointed in Kobe’s decision to leave our program but we wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” Perry told Hockey News North. “The Timmins Majors will move on, work at developing the players we have and search to add forward depth.”

The 5-foot-9, 155-pound Barrette finished third on the Timmins scoring chart during the 2017-2018 regular season with 13 goals, 13 assists, 26 points in 36 games. Barrette, who hails from the northeastern Ontario town of Iroquois Falls, then added 3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points in 5 playoff games for Timmins.

Ironically, Barrette was cut by Kapuskasing last year before signing with Timmins and going on to have a good season with the Majors as a 15-year old rookie in the Great North loop.

MAJOR RETURNS

Despite Barrette’s decision to move to Kapuskasing from Timmins, the Majors do have 12 players signed ahead of their August 17-19 training camp preparatory to the 2018-2019 season.

The players signed include eight returnees from the 2017-2018 season and four newcomers.

In all, Timmins has six forwards, five defensemen and a goalie signed.

The aforementioned, 29-year old Perry will be returning for his second season behind the Timmins bench in 2018-2019.

And as an added bonus, Perry confirmed that Derick Martin and Trevor McGee will be returning as assistant coaches and that the Majors are looking to add another assistant.

Ron Holmes will serve as the Majors general manager and Doug Cheechoo will be director of player recruitment.

Timmins is coming off a turnaround season in 2017-2018. Under the direction of Perry et al, the Majors finished in fifth place with a regular season record of 14-21-1 before upsetting the fourth place Soo Greyhounds in the first round of the playoffs.

The 2017-2018 season followed what was a disastrous 2016-2017 campaign in which Timmins finished in last place with a record of 2-32-2.

What you think about “Kapuskasing via Timmins”

The Timmins Majors from top to bottom have become a first class organization with a bright futur under the new leadership. It was a very difficult decision but fulfills a wish Kobe has had for a long time to play for the Flyers and we would like to wish the Timmins Majors best of luck in the upcoming season.

Go Flyers Go !!
The Flyers have a proven track record in the last 6 – 7yrs making it to the finals twice , consistently in the top 3- 4 . The organization have also promoted many players to different levels . They have done well since their re-building yrs staying true to their mission.
The rivalry will continue between Kap & Timmins ,can’t expect any different.